President Alassane Ouattara wins a fourth term after main rivals were kicked out

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has secured a fourth term in an election that kept two of his main rivals out, provisional results show.

Ouattara, 83, won 89.8 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said Monday, with businessman Jeal-Louis Billon a distant second with just 3.09 percent.

The landslide victory does not come as a huge surprise as, after being banned from the presidential race, former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse CEO Tijan Thiam called on their supporters to boycott the vote.

Voter turnout reached only 50.1%, according to the electoral commission.

Gbagbo’s ex-wife Simone Gbagbo, who was allowed to run, received 2.42% of the vote.

Monday’s results are provisional and the final result will be announced by the Constitutional Council after ruling on election petitions.

On Sunday, the opposition group, made up of Gbagbo’s and Thiam’s parties, denounced the election as a “civic coup”, saying they would not recognize Ouattara as a validly elected leader.

Ouattara first assumed the presidency in 2011 following the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo following his refusal to accept defeat in the 2010 elections.

Ouattara was originally limited to two terms, but constitutional changes in 2016 allowed him to run for re-election in 2020 in a vote that was boycotted by the opposition.